Anyone been up there recently? Conditions?

I have climbed Trough twice in snow previously, and thinking about maybe NF Cables sometime soon.

If we want to be cautious, are there places for pro, or is everything filled with snow this time of year? If you've been there and used pro before, what? 3 camalot too small? Any horns or stuff to sling? Not looking to zip it up, but if we rope I don't want to do so without a piece or two of pro.

also - can we just carry the one rope and do two smaller raps, or do you all really recommend hauling two? (say one... say one... I am too fat to carry two right now)

Thanks for any thoughts.

For conditions there is a north face trip report on 14ers.com from March 2nd, and another of the trough on March 12th... Link to main TR page below.

You can sort by peak name and month and will likely find some other winter ascents that may prove useful answering your questions on pro as well.

http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripmain.php

No current conditions to offer, but a friend and I climb it a couple winters ago. He wrote a TR mentioning the pro he used. And yes, we did it in two raps with a 50 meter rope

http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... ki=Include

As far as pro, you can use the old eye bolts, keep in mind they are old...we trusted them. Cams are dependent upon if there is ice in the crack system, they may not be worth the weight. When I did it in November cams would not have been useful and we only roped up for the one pitch crux although in hindsight, staying on rope would have been prudent. We rappelled in two or three pitches from near the summit. Enjoy!

This time of year, it depends on the exact day whether you'll:
1. Find any rock (often skied in the spring from top to bottom)
2. Have MODERATE to EXTREME avi conditions
3. Be able to stand-up on the approach due to high winds which are currently, likely in the 90mph gust range: http://culter.colorado.edu/exec/metpage/d1metpage_2.cgi

IMHO as a guide on Longs for a dozen years with ascents of all major routes and 100+ascents, nuts are less helpful and a rack of cams from 1" to 3" would suffice (half-dozen). The NF is lots of snow and ice covered terrain that you can't fall on and where you better know how to make the right call on avi conditions- generally not a great winter or spring climbing route. Otherwise wait until it melts more in mid-summer.
Maybe try Keplinger this time of year - much more interesting and safer.
cheers,
Eli Helmuth
AMGA Certified Rock, Alpine and Ski Mountaineering Guide
http://www.guide.climbinglife.com